President's MessageJoseph Marine, MD, MBA, FACC
January 2020

MACCS 2019

Dear Maryland ACC Colleagues,

Happy New Year! I hope that everyone had some time over the holiday season to spend with family and friends.

In last month’s newsletter I promised to update everyone on MACCS (Mid-Atlantic Capital Cardiology Symposium), held November 23-24, 2019 at Heart House. Our annual collaborative regional meeting, planned and run in conjunction with ACC chapters from Virginia, DC, and Delaware, again exceeded expectations, attracting over 100 attendees from Maryland and around the region.

This year’s symposium, entitled “Cardiovascular Care and Imaging in the Older Patient” was powered by a national ACC grant to the Maryland and Virginia Chapters and planned in collaboration with the Geriatric Cardiology and Imaging Sections of the ACC. This theme was woven into all the sessions. The grant also allowed us to bring in national leaders in geriatric cardiology, including Dr. Michael Rich and Dr. Daniel Forman.

The FIT Forum, held Saturday, November 23, attracted our largest group of FIT participants to date and featured discussion of non-clinical competencies (practice and financial management, career development, etc.) and overviews of career opportunities from ACC leaders in the Geriatric Cardiology, Imaging, and Heart Failure/Transplant sections. Exciting rounds of FIT Jeopardy closed out the afternoon. Congratulations to the team from Johns Hopkins, who will represent our Maryland Chapter at FIT Jeopardy at ACC.20 in Chicago in March 2020.

The main event for MACCS on Sunday November 24 featured overviews of CV Imaging topics, and a vigorous debate on primary prevention lipid lowering therapy in patients over age 80 between Dr. Rich and Dr. Forman. Lots of important data on both sides – we will have to await the results of upcoming trials to find the answer. We were fortunate to be joined by ACC President-elect Dr. Athena Poppas, who gave a great overview of current ACC initiatives at the lunch-and-learn session. For the afternoon session, we were joined by Dr. Hussain Contractor, representing the British Cardiac Society, who provided a European perspective on a complex coronary intervention in older patients with comorbidities.

CV Team members presented four fascinating complex cases – many thanks go to them for putting these cases together. We saw about 40 posters from FITs (congrats to Dr. Dan Ambinder of Johns Hopkins for winning Best Poster award for his work on an animal model of PEA arrest). The Young Investigator Award was won by Dr. Francoise Marvel of Johns Hopkins for her work on a smartphone/watch-based app to improve patient medical adherence and outcomes after MI.

One of the delights of serving as chapter president is the opportunity to present awards on behalf of the chapter. This year we honored two of our outstanding CVT Team Members, Amy Dukovcic, MBA, CRNP and Jill “Jae” Patton, CRNP. Amy received the Special Achievement Award for her tireless advocacy work on the RCIS bill in 2019. Jae received the Distinguished Service Award for her many contributions to our chapter, including her term as CV Team Liaison from 2016-19, during which she led successful growth in membership and engagement. Jae is an outstanding leader and supporter of the Maryland Chapter and continues to serve ACC as a Director of the ACC CV Team Steering Committee.

Finally, we must thank Dr. Garima Sharma and Dr. Evan Ownby for their efforts and success as Program Directors for MACCS for the past 2 years. They have taken our regional meeting to new heights. Next year their big shoes will be filled by Dr. Andrew Choi and Dr. Victor Soukoulis. We will start planning MACCS 2020 in just a couple months at ACC.20 and look forward to incorporating your ideas and suggestions. Save the date – November 21-22, 2020.

Next month is the ACC’s Cardiovascular Summit, being held February 6-8 next door in Washington, DC. This has become the go-to meeting to learn the latest in cardiovascular practice management, health economics, and leadership skills. Hope to see many of you there.

As always, please send MDACC leadership and staff your comments, questions, and suggestions to president@marylandacc.org.

Joseph E. Marine, MD, FACC
President, Maryland ACC